To us, education is a precondition for participating in social processes. However, the current educational system is in many aspects not able to enable people to understand social interrelations and to empower them to a mature taking part in social changes. But only if everyone participates, a society can develop which guarantees the most broad level of freedom for all individuals and thus finds the most broad level of acceptance.

At the same time we come to the conclusion, that the goal of establishing free education for everyone worldwide seems to have moved out of reach for some time to come. The educational system is cross-nationally exposed to different reforms. It is time to analyze these changes, especially in context to the whole of society, and to develop alternatives to the status quo.

Continue to read the text...Therefore we want to discuss together: What functions do school systems and systems of higher education have in different European countries and regions? What does self determined living and learning mean? How can we establish free access to education for everyone? How are educational system and society related to one another? Do institutions of higher education produce social inequality and how could this inequality be broken? How can we establish democratic, self determined structures at schools and institutions of higher education? What is commercialization of education, what influence do commercial enterprises have in this process and how can this influence be broken? How and for what aim can European-wide solidarity be established?

This congress should facilitate a Europe-wide exchange, analyzing the context of education and society. We want to give attention to decision-making processes of society to establish a democratization of society.

Thus, for everyone interested in education and education policy: come to the European Education Congress from the 1st to 6th of June 2010 at the Ruhr-University in Bochum!

We invite you to spend five days with us, analyzing the current educational system and its functions critically. Let us think about the meaning of good education, what the requirements of a progressive educational system are and which paths could lead to such a system. This will be done in different methods of learning such as workshops, plenary meetings, lectures, panel discussions and concrete experiences. All supporting persons and groups are called to bring in such activities of their own, to introduce texts and to contribute to the congress. At the same time there will be enough time to exchange experiences from single countries and regions and for international networking to enable further cooperation.